Whatever the path, it all boils down to some program on your computer showing you advertisements that do not come from the websites you are visiting. Or it might land on your PC by means of legitimate software within which it’s secretly buried.

You might download it without understanding its intent. Adware is an altogether different kettle of rotten fish. Mind you, it does happen that legitimate software applications do use online advertising, with ads that are typically bundled within the program and that display in ways the program developer specified. Also, you might experience new tabs opening, a change in your home page, findings from a search engine you never heard of, or even a redirect to a NSFW website. And that’s when you start seeing dubious miracle weight loss programs, offers for get-rich-quick secrets, and bogus virus warnings that invite your click. “Adware is unwanted software designed to throw advertisements up on your screen.”Īdware generates revenue for its developer by automatically displaying online advertisements in the user interface of the software or on a screen that pops up in the user’s face during the installation process. Typically, it uses an underhanded method to either disguise itself as legitimate, or piggyback on another program to trick you into installing it on your PC, tablet, or mobile device. Some security professionals view it as the forerunner of the modern-day PUP (potentially unwanted program). What is adware? Adware definitionĪdware is unwanted software designed to throw advertisements up on your screen, most often within a web browser. Below, we offer a short primer on adware, what it is, how you get it, what it tries to do to you, how to deal with it, and what to do in the future to avoid this irritant.

And just as your picnic food attracts the pests that come after it, money-or the revenue generated by unbidden ads-is what draws adware to your PC or mobile device.

That bothersome phenomenon results from adware, short for advertising supported software. And no matter how much you click to close those windows, they keep buzzing you like flies at a picnic. You go online with your nice, well-behaved browser, only to see it fly into a virtual tantrum, as an onslaught of advertisements either pops up, slides in from the side, or otherwise inserts itself to interrupt and even redirect your intended activity.

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